


tainted work of art

by rosynosed



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, kinda cringe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22353940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosynosed/pseuds/rosynosed
Summary: typical hurt/comfort fic. rose is injured on one of her adventures with ten, he feels guilty, you know the drill.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	tainted work of art

It’d been about three days, in Earthly standards, since the injury. 

Within those days Rose Tyler failed to do much speaking, or moving- Rassilon the woman hadn’t even been breathing the first few minutes upon getting wounded, but The Doctor presses back that thought and continued to monitor the blonde at his side. 

She’d appeared to be stirring, that Rose Tyler, and maybe she’d manage to muster up a sentence if she really put her mind to it if once she eventually awoke. In the few times she had woken thus far, she’d only grumbled, sip some of the soup the Doctor had to proudly made her and drift back into sleep with something that sounded like a “thank you,” (at least, The Doctor had let himself think that, he was rather self-satisfied with his bowl specially made for Rose Marian Tyler).

The girl lifted her head bad peeled her eyes open and peered at the Doctor, who gazed back at her with a grin.

“Well, hello!” The Doctor greeted, smile spread across his face like butter on toast.

“Hello!” returned Rose, though her enthusiasm was blatantly inauthentic, but it was the effort that mattered.

“Well you certainly sound better! That’s the first clear word I’ve got furom you since you’ve been out!” The Doctor chimed.

“How longs it been?”

“Why, it shouldn’t matter, Rose! What matters is you’re here now!” The doctor faltered, dosing the question knowing Rose would resent the amount of time she was out, given her love of traveling.

“I said how long.”

He frowned, “About three days.”

Roses eyes widened, and she tried to lift her left arm in protest but immediately winced at the pain of it. 

“Easy,” the Doctor said, now stroking her backside, “you should be up and ready to go in another two days or so. Paralysis guns are a doozy, healing can take a while.”

“I can’t believe I’m even alive. You saved me then, yeah? Thanks for that.” Cooed Rose with mild exasperation.

The Doctor tried to shrug off the idea that the girl had even lost her life, “Hardly my doing. All you. You’re a fighter you are.”

“S’ppose”

The two day in silence for a while. Both flooding with questions and worries, neither wanting to be the one to break the ice, before Rose finally did.

“So that means I’ll be without a shower for a total of five days then?” she groaned.

“Blimey, Rose! That’s really not all that bad. Do you know how long I’ve gone without a shower on some travels? You’d be appalled! You’re fine.” The Doctor insisted, waving his hand in a dismissive fashion, “you humans always have a weird distinctive smell to you anyways. Showering hardly even diminishes it!”

Rose grimaced, “But I’m dirty. Stained with...I don’t know paralysis gun particles. And I haven’t taken a piss in three days now! I’m disgusting!”

The Doctor sighed, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt for you to shower, but I guess you’d need a hand, seeing as though you can’t move all too well. Maybe it’d be good for your muscles anyways.”

Rose grinned ear to ear, tongue sliding between her teeth, “so you’re going to undress me then?”

“For medical purposes. Dear God Rose, do you think I’ve never seen a naked human body before? You humans are so fascinated by reproduction, you know that? To think something as simple as nudity is some sort of major symbol of sexuality, ridiculous!” The doctor contributed to ramble, hoping his words would manage to fog over the red that seeped into his cheeks as his hands grazed over Rose’s clothes and slid them over her body. 

Admittedly, the majority of Rose Tyler’a body was not foreign territory to the eyes of the Doctor. Many of their trips to otherworldly destinations required her to wear, in Earthly terms “skimpy” clothing in order to avoid overheating, but this much of Rose?   
It was entirely new, though not necessarily unthought of.

After her bra was unbuckled, he noticed Rose take in her lips and bite them a bit, he noticed her try to squirm her body to what he could only assume was hide her breasts, but she failed, and instead sat with skin growing hot with embarrassment.

“Rose Tyler ive seen plenty of breasts in my day, most far stranger than that of any human- and as far as....that region goes yours are pretty inoffensive!” chimed the Doctor.

“Sorry. Been a while since anyways liked at me like this I s’poose. Haven’t even shaved! That’s embarrassing. Promise I usually do, just haven’t as of lately.”

“You’ve spent over a year traveling all of time and space and still find the time to worry about your body hair? Rassilon, Rose! That’s ridiculous!” The Doctor said, lifting the blonde from her bed and leading her into the tub, careful to keep his hands from touching anything well...from touching anything.

If Rose could, she would be shrugging right now, the Doctor could tell by her tone of voice, “Say I met a nice alien bloke, yeah? Lots of people or...non-people out there, what if none of em are crazy about my hair? Gotta keep my options opened.”

“I’m sorry, you’re concerned about meeting some alien, and what? Settling with him?” The doctor felt a sting tainting his voice, he tried to cough it out but it lingered, he hoped the mist of the hot water he just turned on would help drain it out.

Rose giggled, “Yeah, probably not. Just a thought I have though, here and there.” She felt her neck muscles begin to have a release of tension, as the Doctor massaged calloused, soap-softened hands into it. So much pain was relieved she managed to lay her head back into them.

The Doctor’s eyes widened, but he decided to disregard the girl’s advances.  
They were friends, this is what friends did if you’re the type that get caught in situations like these. It was normal, just part of the gig! Anyone would agree, a stranger would agree! This made perfect, platonic sense, the Doctor has convinced himself.  
“It’s silly that you human- women even worry about such a thing. The hair is natural! It wants to be there! And you lot go wasting your money just to get rid of what nature wants! That tradition never did make sense to me.”

“Are you telling me you’re into body hair, then?” Rose asked, eyes diverting, and trying to look behind her only to cat she a glimpse of the Doctor.

“No, I’m into embracing what the universe wants,” he finished, twirling his thumbs across her back. He became entranced, just a tad, with the way her back felt against his fingertips, and to soak the feeling in a bit more he began writing words from Gallifrey onto her back.

“What are ya doing back there?” Rose asked, feeling the twirling motions of his fingers.

“Just making sure to get you squeaky clean,” he replied, careful not to peek at the front side of her (though, he knew it would have to come, apprehension eating at each of his movements as they drew him nearer to her opposite side.) 

Rose basked in the water that lapped against her lazily. She let her eyes flutter shut and instead melted into the touch of the Doctor. She’d be embarrassed about this by morning, whenever that was in respect of the TARDIS, but she was too captivated in pleasure to pay too much mind to that. His hands swept across her rib cage and up into her sun colored-locks, which he pulled back in a ponytail- style fashion and then weaved his hands through it, working shampoos in between every strand.

“Feels good,” she murmured, sinking further back into him.

He crouched behind her, suit drenched in her bath water, “Glad to hear it.”

“Mmm.”

Eventually he turned to face the front of her, and couldn’t stop his mouth from dropping now that he got a more perfect view of her.  
Every curvature looked as though she was carved by the mightiest and most precise of Gods he’d heard of in his travels. His eyes were that of a starving wolf, and they’d finally been satiated by the view of her. All of time, all of space, and he’d never seen a being of such ineffable beauty. He exhaled audibly and took a sharp inhale upon seeing her collarbones.

It was notably bruised, a sea of purple brown and green painted upon them, and heavily done so. He let his eyes wander further down her body and noticed the rest of it was patterned with the same array of colors at various points.

“Where are those from?” came his hoarse voice.  
Rose was mortified, her illusion was ruined . She would not be beautiful in his eyes with symbols of her own humanity embellished upon her skin.  
“Dunno, I hadn’t thought much of em. They’re just part of this whole traveling thing, yknow? They’ve grown to just be part of me at this point I guess.” She tried to brush them off, to make herself seem strong about them. It was true, she hadn’t thought twice about it, but she’d also never considered the Doctor would ever really see her in this respect, outside of the reality within her own head, of course.

“Rose, you need to tell me about things like this,” he said, repeatedly stroking his thumbs over the marks on her collarbone. 

His eyes were wild, “Your body, it shouldn’t be scathed like this. It’s, it’s not fair to you. Tell me when things like this happen, okay?”

She looked at him, perplexed, “What are you so worked your about? It’s just a couple of bruises! Really! Get ‘em all of the time!”

He shook his head , “No, no! But I’m responsible for this, I’ve done this to you! I’ve stained you! These are all just, marks of failures I’ve had! I can’t let things like this happen to you. Human beings, they’re frail! Time lords don’t bruise like you lot! They-“

“Doctor, I’m okay, really,” Rose interrupted.

“No, no you’re not.” He said, now madly rubbing his hands over her collarbones. “You weren’t okay three days ago, when I held you to my chest and you were without a breath! I did that to you! I let your whereabouts go unnoticed and look what happened! I could have lost you due to what? My own carelessness? I can’t have that happen to you. Not to you.” His voice was cracking nkw, trembling with every syllable.

Rose felt very eyes water, “But I’m here, yeah? Things, they’re okay. Things like that are bound to happen, and even if I was.....gone..it wouldn’t be your fault, okay? That’s on me. I want to be here, with you, a life without that isn’t one worth having.”

“There is nothing worth more than having your life Rose,” growled the Doctor.

“Fine then. It’s worth more when it’s with you then, and if some stupid alien cuts it’s short then so be it.”

“But Rose Tyler! Can’t you see I’m the stupid alien? It’s my duty to keep you safe like I promised your own mother and look where we are. You’re bruised and paralyzed so much so you can’t even bathe yourself!” he sounded like a madman.

Rose pressed her head against his naval, it was all she was able to give in her current state, “two days and I’ll be normal, that’s what you promised, yeah? Two days and you’ll have me, jus’ like the universe intended and we’ll have a lovely time.” 

He rested his head onto the top of hers, growing uncomfortable with his drenched suit, “Just try to stay out of trouble, for me. I don’t want to see another mark on that body of yours again, you hear me?”

“I’ll be sure to keep you from getting in a position where you’ll have to see this body again, okay?” Rose asked, forcing a smile with the disappointment dawning on her that this would be the only time they’d be this close again.

“We have a deal,” the Doctor replied, feeling his heart clench a bit at her sealing off his eyes from the grandiose sight she was. 

And so he lifted her up, tied a robe around her and brought her one of the soups he so fondly made for her.  
She had fallen back into sleep before she could eat it.


End file.
